Grain-car door.



No. 768,346. PATENTED AUG. 23, 1904,

- W. Li SHIESS.

GRAIN CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20. 1904.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEBT l.

aw H No. 768,346. PATENTED AUG. 23, 1904, W. L.- SHIESS.

GRAIN GAR DOOR.

APPLICATION rum) FEB. 20. 1904. I no 110mm. '2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

UNI-TED STATES Patented'August 23, 1904.

WEBSTER L. SHIESS, OF SOUTH CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GRAIN-CAR DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 768,346, dated August23, 1904.

' Application filed February 20, 1904. Serial No. 194,574. (No model.)

To (ZZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that LWEBSTER L. SHIEss, a citizen of the United States,residing at South Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Grain-Car Doors, of whichthe following is a specification. I

The object bf my invention 'is a slidable door adapted for use ongrain-ears which can be readily opened and the operation of which can beeasily understood.

A further object is to provide a door of this kind of few parts, notlikely to hang or get out of order, and which shall also be providedwith an opening adjacent the bottom covered by a slide through which aportion of the grain can readily escape,whereby room is provided withinthe car, so that the door can be swung inward. I With many of the formsof doors now in use on grain-cars it is found impossible to get the dooropen when the car is filled to the roof with grain, as many of the carsare, and

, the grain-door is consequently broken at the showing the keepersecured to the door.

bottom to permit a portion of the grain to flow out.

My invention consists of the novel features of construction andcombination of parts hereinafter described, particularly pointed out inthe claims, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 isa perspective view of my door in position. Fig. 2 is a sectional view ofthe upper portion of acar, the doors being shown open. Fig. 3 is adetail sectional View showing the means for locking the door in an openposition. Fig. 4: is a detail perspective view Fig. 5 is a horizontalsection through one of my doors, taken immediately above the slidecarried by the said door. spective View of a portion of my door, showinga portion of the slide and the means for securing the end of same. Fig.7 is a vertical section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 5, a brace bar beingshown in elevation. Fig. 8 is a detail sectional View on the line 8 8 ofFig. 6.

' Fig. 9 is a horizontal transverse section through the door-jambimmediately above the door. I

In Figs. 1 and 2 the usual outer freight-car- Fig. 6 is a detailpershown in Figs/2 and 3.

two hooks D are door is removed, as the same is not a part of thisinvention.

In the drawings, A represents a grain-car of any desired construction.sides of the doorways in the said car an iron plate B is secured to thedoor-jam'b, the plates secured in the same doorway facing each other.

This plate is slotted, as shown at B, and the door-jam'b is verticallyslotted at A to aline.

bears on and overlaps theinner sides of the door-jamb, and the door isof such a height as to extend from the bottom of the car to a pointadjacent the lower end of the slot B. From the drawings it will be notedthat the door 0' overlaps the lower portion of the plates B.

Arranged on the outer face of the door C, adjacent the upper edge of thedoor C and adjacent the door-jambs, are plates C, which plates have anoutwardly-angled portion 0 and this portion or arm is bent inwardly andextends into the slot B, which is of less width than the recess A, andthe inner end of this arm C is bent inwardly, forming a hook member Gwhich engages the slotted portion of the plate B. To the outer face ofthe door, adjacent its lower edge, is secured a keeper D, consisting ofan angled plate bent upon itself, as at D, and flanged along the sideedges on one side of the bent portion D. This plate is secured to thedoor, so that the angled portion fits the door edge and overlaps thelower edge of the door, the bent portion forming a shoulder adjacent thedoor edge. A book D is secured to a beam in the roof of the car and isadapted to engage the shoulder D when the door is raised and swunginward, as Where; two. of my doors are used on a car, as is usually thecase, provided, one for each door.

The door G is strengthened by suitable brace-bars O, and adjacentthelower edge of the door is formed a horizontal slot E, intersectedintermediate its ends by the vertical On the opposite brace 0, wherebytwo openings for the outflow of the grain are formed, and intermediatethe ends of the slot and adjacent each end are arranged verticallyguide-strips E some distance above the slots, and the central strip isdepressed, as at E, at a point intermediate its ends. Running along thelower edge of the slots E is an outwardly-extending flange E*, andresting on this flange and sliding between the door C and theguidestrips .E' is a slide E, which when resting on the flange E* coverseach of the slots E. Handles E are secured to the outer face of theslide E, by which it may be raised, and its vertical movement is'limited by the guidestrips E. The depressed portion E of the centralstrip causes that strip to engage the upper portion of the slide whenthe slide is in its lowest position and to engage the strip adjacent itslower edge when in its highest position and by binding on the said slideserves to hold it in an elevated position when raised and to preventvertical movement of the slide when lowered by reason of jolting of thecar, a positive movement being required to shift the slide E from oneposition to another.

On the inner side of the door-jarnbs are arranged hook members F,between which the lower portion of the side edges of the door work whenthe door is lowered, the door fitting between the hooks and thedoor-jambs, and the door is thus prevented from swinging inward awayfrom the door-jambs when in its lowered or closed position.

The operation of the device above described is as follows: When the caris filled with grain, the slide E is raised and some of the grainpermitted to escape through the slots E until a suflicient amount hasbeen removed to allow the door to swing inward. The door shoulder D,formed on the keeper-plate D,

carried by the said door, The door is now held in an elevated positionpractically parallel to the floor of the car, as shown in Fig. 2.

The fact that the door overlaps the doorjambs on each side serves tomake a graintight joint, and it will also be noted that the door Citself does not work in slides or guideways, and so cannot jamb, andthat no rollers are employed with corresponding grooves or tracks. Theconstruction of the door is therefore very simple and should any part bebroken can be readily replaced or repaired, and the door can be operatedby any one able to lift the door vertically, no prior study ofcomplicated fastenings and parts being required.

In order that the slide E may be prevented from longitudinal movementalong the flange E on the end strips E, I have shown a flange E, bentinward, as shown most clearly in Fig. 6.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A grain-ear door of greater width and less height than the doorwayadapted to be moved vertically in said doorway and then swung inwardly,means for movabl y connecting the door to the door-jambs, a horizontalslot formed in the door adjacent its lower edge, vertical guide-stripsarranged on the door and extending from below to a point above the saidslot, a flange along the lower edge of the slots and a slide adapted torest on the flange and to close the slot, and adapted to be movedvertically between the door and the guide-strips to uncover the slot, asand for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination with a grain-ear having a doorway, of a door ofgreater width than the doorway and of less height, the said door beinghorizontally slotted adjacent its lower edge, means for slidably andpivotally connecting the upper portion of the door to the door-jambs, anoutwardly extending flange along the lower edge of the slot, verticallyarranged guide-strips extending from said flange to points above theslot one of said strips being depressed intermediate its ends, aslidable plate resting on the said. flange and adapted to movevertically beneath the strips and in contact with the said depressedportion of one of the strips, and means for locking the door in anelevated position when swung inward and upward.

WEBSTER L. SIllESS.

\Vitnesses:

CnARLns H. GinsoN, N. J. Romans.

